Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige is in Washington, D.C., this week to participate in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative Annual Great Lakes Day.
She joins native and nonnative leaders advocating for the environmental health and economic prosperity of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin.
She will meet with American Senators and House Representatives to talk about the lakes but also the tariffs imposed by Trump.
“The Anishinabek Nation calls the Great Lakes Basin home and in addition to the continued and ever-evolving issues and challenges that have long been harming and endangering all bodies of waters, it now faces potential consequences from proposed tariffs that will impact many of our First Nations,” says Debassige.
She emphasizes that the 25 percent tariffs threaten the ability to invest in conservation and cultural initiatives, such as but not limited to the protection of wetlands and preventing invasive species into the Great Lakes.
She will report back to local chiefs soon.
